


Possibilities

by dragonofyang



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Love Confessions, One Shot, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, well not so much fake relationship as when your friends ship you and you're too smitten to argue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 13:38:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17142746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonofyang/pseuds/dragonofyang
Summary: My first work ever on AO3, woot! And my first fanfiction in years to be honest, ahaha. This is my Lotura Server Secret Santa gift for LilacLanterns. I really hope you like it, hon! :D Merry Jeithmas and happy holidays!Also a note, if you haven't seen Last Holiday, I highly recommend it. It's got Queen Latifah in it as the lead and it's just a really fun film ^w^





	Possibilities

“—and I told him, ‘I understand, but the policy is you need a doctor’s note for this kind of thing,’ and he had the gall to—”

Lotor’s tirade to Allura was interrupted by a knock. Allura looked at the clock on the shelf and she was on her feet in a flash. “Oh! They’re early,” she said, unlocking the door to her apartment and opening it wide to five of her closest friends as they spilled into the apartment like an overly-friendly tidal wave bearing backpacks and blankets.

“Allura! Thanks so much for inviting us—”

“—Allura, you won’t believe what Hunk and I—”

“—I made gingerbread cookies!”

“Lance, move it!”

“Make me!”

“Come in, come in!” Allura called over the cacophony, smile bright as she backed up so everybody could come in and shut the door behind them. “I’m so glad you all could make it, it means a lot to us that you want to celebrate with us. Make yourselves at home.”

“Thanks for having us, Allura,” Shiro said, coming over to give her a hug. “How’s the end of the semester been for you?”

“Alright, I suppose, Lotor and I have been hard at work getting our graduate projects done, and our students are being… students,” she finished with a laugh. “But come, make yourselves at home, let us clean off our grading.”

Lotor was already stacking the papers they’d scattered on the coffee table and moving them into neat piles on an empty spot on the bookshelf. He laid his binder on top of them and then hers with practiced ease. “Not to worry,” he told her, “I’ll make cocoa while your friends get settled.”

The others called out their thanks, and Allura flashed Lotor a smile. She turned to the others and as expected, all but Shiro were just making themselves at home while their fellow TA leaned against the counter with a smile, his prosthetic arm clacking quietly against the countertop.

“You excited for your first friendmas?” he asked Lotor as he put the kettle on.

“Quite, Allura mentioned it was a tradition of yours and she was kind enough to extend an invitation to me since things at home are… tense. Peppermint or classic?”

Shiro nodded, then smiled and said, “Peppermint. Same for Keith, and he’ll want marshmallows, though he doesn’t always like to ask.”

“Ah, yes, Allura mentioned he was rather reserved.” With practiced grace borne of having stayed over at Allura’s place many a night and weekend, Lotor retrieved seven mugs from the cupboard and dumped cocoa packets into each, hardly needing to look where things were anymore. His usual friend group were all busy over the holidays, and while they’d invited him to come with them, Lotor found himself wanting to stay and work with Allura on his dissertation. Between the two of them, their work—code-named Sincline thanks to a spelling error on a whiteboard late at night—was making leaps and bounds, and steadily he’d found himself falling further into the light of her smile and the gravity of her personality.

Shiro’s laugh pulled his thoughts back from their meandering. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it. Pranks aside, it’s good for him to have a noisy group of friends, I think.” He accepted the mug that Lotor offered him and then took the one for Keith out to the living room, where already one half of the sectional couch was claimed by Pidge, who was arguing with Lance over whether he should sleep on the floor or not while Hunk was settled on the other side, eyes flicking between the two like it was a tennis match the only indicator he wasn’t completely relaxed yet.  
Seeing mugs of cocoa, the others quickly came to claim their mugs, and Allura reached around Lotor to grab her favorite mug, her hand resting on the small of his back as she did. “Thank you, Lotor,” she said before taking a sip.

He smiled, his face soft as they all filed out to the living room and settled in to unwind from their hectic semesters. Lotor claimed the armchair, and not to be outdone, Allura simply looked at him expectantly until he scooted and she could smoosh herself in with him with a giggle. “You know, there are pillows,” he said, raising a white brow.

“But this is my chair,” she retorted, settling in anyway. She slurped her cocoa and lightly tugged on the strand of hair in front of her face. She always teased him about not knowing how to put his hair up properly, but she quite enjoyed the silly little strand.

Defeated, he simply let her trap one arm and crossed his legs in an attempt to get more comfortable. “If I’m to be your captive audience, perhaps you can enlighten me to your traditions of friendmas? Christmas itself isn’t for another two weeks.”

“Oh yeah, this is your first one, isn’t it?” Pidge said, her glasses a little fogged from the cocoa. “We do all the normal holiday stuff, plus our own traditions. Like we all get pajamas to wear the night of Christmas Eve, or the night before we give presents in our case, since we’re going home for break.”

“That only started because you can’t seem to wear normal pajamas, you computer gremlin,” Lance interjected.

“At least I don’t sleep in just my underwear.”

“Wha—that was one time! And that was because Keith dumped his cocoa all over me and the laundromat was closed.”

“Lance, don’t drag me into this.”

“Lance, don’t drag him into this.”

Allura and Keith shared a look when they spoke at the same time and Pidge snorted at Lance as he face-faulted. She gave Lotor an apologetic look, but then nodded to a pink-wrapped present in the corner with the tree. “Your set is there. In fact,” she looked at everybody with a grin, “why don’t we open all our pajamas now and we can put on a movie?”

“I’m down for a movie, and we can chow on gingerbread cookies, too. Pidge, Lance, Keith?” Hunk asked, pulling a yellow-wrapped present. “I got Shiro’s pajamas.”

Everybody rifled through their overnight bags to pull out presents wrapped with varying levels of skill, and so Allura wiggled free of the chair to go get Lotor’s present, her mug abandoned on the coffee table. When she came back, she handed it to him and then caught the red-wrapped box Keith tossed her way, a small smile on his face. “Merry friendmas, Allura.”

“You too, Keith.”

She tore the paper off as the others did the same, everybody exclaiming at their pajamas. Hers were pink and gray striped pants with “NAP” emblazoned on the soft-as-a-dream shirt and she cooed, promptly rubbing her cheek on the fabric. She turned, half-burying her face in the fabric as she watched Lotor open his, his eyes wide in wonder as he touched the soft flannel pants.

“Allura, these are wonderful, thank you,” he said, pulling out the blue shirt with the cat face printed on the front. The pants also sported blue and orange cats on a dark gray background and he beamed before standing to pull her into a brief hug before going to get changed.

Allura watched him go into the bathroom with a bit of pink dusting her dark brown cheeks. She shook her head and turned to go into her bedroom, Shiro already on his way to the guest bedroom to take turns getting changed. Once she had the pajamas on, she slid her feet into her lion slippers and came out, Lance brushing past her with a grin to put on his new Star Wars pajamas.

She hurried over to her chair to reclaim it as Pidge and Hunk disappeared as well, and right as she sat down, she heard somebody behind her clearing his throat.

“Did you just steal my spot?” Lotor murmured, leaning over the back of the armchair.

“Maybe.” She turned to give him a smug look, their faces mere inches apart.

He didn’t respond. Instead, he came around and sat down on her lap, sighing in contentment as she let out an indignant squeak. “Hm, this chair is lumpier than I remember it being a few moments ago.”

Allura grunted and wiggled to try and get him off, but he simply slid to the side to steal half the cushion like she had done earlier, his smirk earning him a light jab of her elbow as she scooted over. “If you’re half as cruel with your students as you are with me, I think I might agree with that freshman,” she teased, poking his cheek.

He gasped in mock-hurt. “You would betray me in this way? We were meant to teach together, you and I, my feelings are true,” he said, leaning back to throw a hand across his eyes as he paraphrased a quote from his sci-fi class.

Allura giggled and Keith cleared his throat, drawing the attention of two TA’s who lacked the brain power for another hour of class. “We’re ready to put on a movie if you two are,” he said, sitting on the floor by Allura’s DVD player under her TV.

“Oh, right. Go ahead. Do we have any requests?” she asked, looking at Lotor, then the others.

“Not _Elf_ ,” Lance said, “my siblings are gonna insist as soon as I get home and then play it every day until New Year’s, spare me, please.”

“ _Home Alone_?”

“ _Die Hard_.”

“Wait, wait, guys, why don’t we let Lotor pick since it’s his first friendmas?” Shiro said, looking over at him with a smile. “Any requests? Allura’s got a lot.”

That prompted him to get up and go look with Keith, kneeling on very long legs to peer at Allura’s untouched Christmas movie collection. He pulled out _Last Holiday_ and held it up for inspection. “Perhaps this one?”

Everybody voiced their agreement and Allura settled on the floor by the couch with several blankets. “That’s one of my favorites, you’ll love it,” she said with a bright smile. She patted the floor next to her and he joined her, the better vantage perfect for watching the film.

\---

As the epilogue summaries of the characters’ lives after their adventures in the Grandhotel Pupp scrolled by, Lotor wrapped an arm around Allura to give her a big hug. “Thank you for including me,” he murmured. The main character’s book of possibilities made something ache in his chest, something that made him wonder about his own possibilities.

“It was nothing, I’m glad you decided to stay here for the holidays,” she replied, settling more comfortably under his arm as she pillowed her head on his shoulder. They’d spent many a late night like this when they were too wired on coffee to sleep but too braindead to keep working on their projects, but with all her friends around and the Christmas tree up it was cozier, sweeter.

He smiled and rested his head atop hers, content to sit with her as the others bickered over what movie to watch next. Not that there was much to bicker about, the younger ones seemed intent on watching a non-romantic movie next to balance it out. Shiro just watched from over the rim of his empty cocoa mug, his way of not getting in the middle of the debacle.

It took a few minutes, but everybody settled in for _Home Alone_ after Pidge suggested it and Hunk made her swear not to booby-trap the loft like she did the first year. They’d all been covered in green goo and it took hours for Allura to get the crap out of her hair.

Lotor had seen Home Alone before, with Acxa, Zethrid, Ezor, and Narti, and they’d come up with pranks of their own inspired from the movie. Suffice to say he was looking forward to not having to dodge legos and duck under saran wrap.

“If she ever meets Ezor or Narti, I fear we’ll all be in terrible danger,” Lotor said to Allura, making her snort in amusement.

“That’d be a holiday to remember.”

“Hey, lovebirds, where do you keep the popcorn?” Lance called from the kitchen as he opened cabinets at random.

“Huh? Er, behind the cereal on the fridge,” Allura called, ears burning at being called “lovebirds”.

“Allow me,” Lotor said, getting up to fetch the popcorn for Lance. His cheeks were noticeably pink, earning him a sidelong glance from Lance as he took out a bag and peeled off the plastic packaging. Figuring there wasn’t much to do while they waited for the popcorn to pop, Lotor opened another cabinet and pulled out Allura’s mixing bowls. “Allura, would you mind terribly if we use these for the popcorn?”

“Hm? Not at all, they’re there to be used,” she called back, burrowing deeper into her blanket to hide her blush.

Nodding, he set the bowls next to Lance’s elbow and then returned to sit with Allura, tugging his blanket over his shoulders as well while Keith commandeered the armchair, scooting it over to be able to see the TV.

Allura shuffled a little and resumed leaning on Lotor’s shoulder, looking up at him with a sheepish grin. “Is this alright?” she asked.

“More than alright,” he replied, smiling back as he settled against the front of the couch.

She turned her attention to the movie as it began to play, but Lotor found himself watching her more than the movie. “Lovebirds” eh? Lance’s remark might’ve been a little more on the mark than he’d admit previously, but looking back at the past two semesters it made sense. They’d met in the library when doing research, and despite being in vastly different fields they both had interests in each other’s work. Eventually talk of research turned to talking of their classes and students, to personal interests. Really, he’d never hit it off so well with somebody, even with his closest friends.

It also wasn’t entirely his fault considering she was so captivating.

He lived with four women, and while they were wonderful friends, there was something to be said about having her apartment to be able to come and work quietly or talk passionately about his interests with. Then after the first night he’d crashed in the guest bedroom from too many exams, it became rather easy to just plan to stay for a weekend so they could crunch together, or have a night to bounce theories and ideas off each other. It certainly beat contemplating going home to his estranged father when he needed a change of scenery. It was what his younger self had dreamed of, back when he’d lived with his father and his… problems. Somewhere he could call home, and people who cherished him as he did them. Now her apartment was a second home to him with its boisterous guests as they argued over whether original or caramel popcorn was better, to which Pidge flung a piece of Orville Redenbacher’s finest at Hunk before taking a fistful and offering the bowl to Allura, who took it and took a handful as well before offering it to Lotor.

“Thank you,” he said, settling the bowl in his lap to eat since it seemed everybody else was content with the amounts they got.

She glanced up at him, then reached out to steal a gingerbread cookie from the platter Hunk brought, munching on the head of some unfortunately cute person. It at least gave her an excuse to not stare at him and risk making things awkward between them.

Well, more awkward.

So instead, she just returned her head to its spot on his shoulder, cozying up to him, relaxing more than she had around the others all semester. Lotor’s heart lurched seeing her trust, and he rested his head atop hers once more.

He almost was distracted enough to not realize that Pidge was dangling something over their heads and that it brushed his hair.

He looked up and saw the green and white plant, and his eyes widened as the others snickered.

Allura looked up as well and she squeaked in surprise, and Pidge just laughed. “Hey, if you don’t want to, it’s fine, but I get to pick the next movie,” she mock-threatened as the cat-burglars took paint cans to the faces.

Lotor bit his lip and looked down at Allura, who was completely red in the face, and she chewed her lip as well for a second before leaning up to peck his cheek, taking him by surprise. He stared at her for a few seconds, eyes wide as dinner plates, then leaned in to return the soft kiss with one of his own. Her cheek was warm under his lips, and he had to remind himself not to take more liberties as he pulled away, coughing to dispel some of the tension in his chest.

“If you want to pick the next movie, I won’t stop you, but you’ll have to convince everybody else,” Allura said, a shy edge to her laugh as she tugged on a loose strand of her white hair.

“You’re only allowed to pick the next movie if it’s not a musical,” Keith said.

“Make it a musical, Pidge,” Lance said, resting his elbow on top of her head to her obvious displeasure.

“Get off me, Lance,” she grumbled. When he didn’t move, she jabbed his ribs where he was most ticklish, inspiring a loud squeal as he launched off the couch and onto the floor next to Allura, who simply rolled her eyes and laughed as she sunk back into Lotor’s side, his arm coming around her shoulders.

“Sorry,” she whispered to him.

“Don’t apologize,” he replied, giving her a soft smile.

\---

About two-thirds of the way through the movie, Allura realized that Hunk had fallen asleep behind her on the couch, and so she unfurled her blanket to go over his body. Slowly everybody was unwinding and starting to drift off as Kevin’s family reunited with him at home and the credits started to roll.

Pidge was curled up next to Lance, who was snoozing away with his head on an old throw pillow of Allura’s. She grabbed the remote to hit ‘stop’, then powered down the TV and DVD player. “I think Shiro and Keith claimed the guest bedroom, you got anymore blankets I can steal? I brought a pillow so I can just crash here.”

“The guest room? Lotor’s things are in there,” Allura said. “And I have more blankets, don’t worry. Let me go get them.” She darted into her room to grab her collection of plush blankets and throws, leaving Lotor to contemplate his sudden lack of sleeping arrangements.

“Shall I join you, then?”

“You aren’t gonna sleep with Allura?” Pidge asked, the confusion apparent in her voice. “Are you guys not actually dating?”

That had him stop short and he stuttered for a few seconds before saying, “Well, it’s not that I’m not attracted, she’s really amazing, but no. At least I haven’t asked her.”

“I mean ‘tis the season if you want to do it. You’re adults and all that.” Pidge waved a hand dismissively.

He nodded, deep in thought. “You’re right. Honestly, I’d be a fool not to ask her out at this point, I think.”

Allura came out just in time to hear that and her face turned bright red, and she dropped the blankets on the floor by Pidge, who just had a smirk on her face as she looked at the two of them. Neither said anything, and Pidge rolled her eyes before lightly pushing Lotor’s shoulder and gesturing for him to say something.

“Ah, Allura, I don’t mean to impose—”

“Why don’t you sleep in my room?”

They both stopped short, not wanting to interrupt the other. Allura gestured for him to continue, cheeks burning, and he sighed. “Are you sure you don’t mind? I’ll treat you to dinner if you’d like.”

She offered him her hand and smiled. “Of course not, I don’t want you throwing out your back because you slept on the floor, after all. I’ll take you up on that dinner offer, though.”

He pulled himself up with her hand and Pidge snorted quietly as she arranged a nest for herself, muttering about how she must be chopped liver, but she couldn’t say she minded too much. At least with them in Allura’s room she wouldn’t be third-wheeling.

Lotor shot a grateful look at her over his shoulder before he disappeared into Allura’s room.

“I’m sorry for all that, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot,” Allura said, toying with a strand of her hair as a way of not looking at him. She sat on her bed and leaned against the headboard. There really was plenty of room for Lotor to lay down and they probably would never touch, but still, she seemed shy.

Lotor came over and wrapped her in his long arms, and after a second’s hesitation, she slipped her arms around his trim waist. “Not to worry, besides, my couch is spoken for tonight,” he teased, looking at her, his own cheeks flush in the warm light of the Christmas lights strung around her room. He toyed with his bottom lip as he looked at her, bringing one hand up to brush his thumb against her cheek.

“I realize we’ve never, ah, discussed… anything really,” he said, stammering a bit as his heart picked up speed, “but would you mind terribly if I kissed you?”

Allura’s blush intensified as she leaned into him. “Not at all,” she murmured. Her eyes drifted closed as she leaned in, her breath warm and sweet from the cocoa.

He leaned in as well, his eyes closed as he tasted what home should be like.

What home could be like.

With her.

Maybe it was time to make a book of realities of his own, starting with tonight as he curled up beside her in her bed, lion and mouse plushies scattered around them.


End file.
